Spirit Bound - A Banana Fish Soulmate AU - art by @ashconny

As Long As You're By My Side

"Ash?"

"Ash?"

"Aslan?"

Even if Ash heard a voice echoing from far away at first, he sensed the warmth running through him as a wave of Eiji's feelings crashed into him.

Aslan.

He didn't know when he had heard his real name the last time...

Griff had always called him that, so he saw his face first when he slowly came to his senses and started blinking, then opened his eyes. When he blinked again, Griff's face faded away. Eiji's face came into focus, his huge brown eyes staring at him, scrutinizing him, his face so close their noses were nearly touching. Usually, such proximity scared him, and he'd overreact. With Eiji, however, he had never reacted like that before. Eiji's closeness felt comforting and safe.

He realized with a start why he felt so comfortable with him— he looked at him the same way Griff had always done. They shared the same warm brown eyes, the same compassionate smile, and used the same gentle gestures to soothe him.

"Ei - ji?"

Ash slowly woke up from his stupor, his vision clearing and seeing him this time. He felt pure relief rushing through the bond from Eiji's side. Eiji stood before him, still looking at him with those big, warm eyes while he had one hand on his shoulder and one around his waist to support him.

When he had recognized him and his stance got steadier, he let go of him and slowly grabbed his hand instead so he had the chance to pull away. When he didn't, he held his hand more firmly and led him away from the crowd. Eiji's touch felt warm, and the soft, reassuring smile he wore while looking at him put him at ease.

"Let's go somewhere else, ok?"

Ash was surprised by that suggestion. He had assumed the fountain would be one of the sights Eiji considered a great photo spot and wanted to spend more time there. Then again, he had been spacing out for a moment, so maybe he was missing something? Something important?

"Eiji, wait! Didn't you want to take photos?"

Eiji turned around and glared at him. A little frown appeared on his forehead, and his eyes tightened, the light brown color darkening suddenly. What was that all about? What had he done to make Eiji this angry? He flinched at the intensity of his gaze, too stunned to respond.

Eiji seemed to notice his confusion because he sighed in frustration as if he had failed to see something that was obvious to the rest of the world... It always felt like his IQ was dropping when he was around Eiji.

"I did. But I didn't want you to sacrifice your own health while doing it. Now, let's go somewhere you feel more at ease," Eiji replied while leading him to a small clearing in the shade of some trees. Ash wondered if he had imagined the tears pricking in Eiji's eyes.

'You're safe now. Everything's fine.'

Eiji moved closer and hugged him tightly while he sobbed onto his shirt. Ash just stood there for a moment without moving, frozen in place, too stunned to react, wondering what had just happened. Then, he slowly returned the hug and put his arms around Eiji.

'Eiji, don't cry, ok? I don't know what happened, but thanks for helping me.'

"Eiji wiped away his tears and mumbled, "I was so worried!"

"I'm really sorry, Eiji. What happened, exactly?"

"You tell me, you idiot!"

Ash stared at him, speechless for once. Was he still mad at him? He closed his eyes and tried to listen to the bond as Eiji had taught him. After a moment, he sighed and gave up. He had suppressed his emotions for so long that he could only notice extreme emotions. If they were regular feelings of mediocre intensity, he couldn't tell them apart. Eiji's emotions were always honest, but he wasn't impulsive but quiet, so his feelings were usually calmer and, therefore, more challenging to read. So, he mistook anger for fear or kindness for pity. He just sucked at this...